The OnePlus
5T is supposed to replace the OnePlus 5 and the company has confirmed that once
stocks clear out, OnePlus will not be making any more OnePlus 5 models. However,
does it mean that you should buy the handset? Well, that is not an easy
question to answer but we will try to do that here.

OnePlus
smartphones were once famous for selling flagship hardware at unbelievably affordable
rates, but those days are long gone. Make no mistake, in nations like India and
the company's own home country of China, the phone is still a lot cheaper than other
flagships such as the Galaxy S8, Galaxy Note 8, Pixel 2, etc. Nevertheless, in
America and Canada particularly, the carrier offers and Samsung's own offers
make these flagships almost as affordable as the OnePlus 5T, but with better
hardware. The OnePlus 5T cannot beat flagships from other more established OEMs
in terms of display quality, camera or even water resistance (it doesn't have
any!) and if it cannot even beat the price by much, they need to up their game.
Nevertheless, if you are in one of those regions where the 5T is a lot cheaper
than its competition, it makes for a good buy. By the way, if you already do
have an OnePlus 5, do not even bother to buy a 5T because everything about the
two phones is identical, except the full-screen display and the back-mounted fingerprint
scanner. It might look a bit better, but that facelift doesn't warrant buying a
5T by any logical means.

The latest rumor about the Galaxy Note 6 suggests that, well... there won't actually BE a Galaxy Note 6! Sam Mobile was informed by one of its trusted sources in South Korea itself that Samsung will skip a number and name their sixth Note smartphone as the Galaxy Note 7. If the source is correct then the Korean OEM thinks that most customers will consider the upcoming Note to be older than the S7-series of smartphones, if it carries the suffix "6" with it. The lower model number, according to a source in Samsung itself, "...can give out a feeling that it is an outdated phone,"

This would not be the first time that Samsung will be doing this though, because it had also ditched the "Z2" model number in favor of "Z3," when it had launched the follow-up to the Tizen-OS based smartphone, Z1. In other news, the next Note could also be called the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Edge because of the possibility that it might feature a curved display with dual edges.

Our advice would be to take this news with a pinch of salt (as you must do with most rumors) before more is revealed about the authenticity of the "Galaxy Note 7 Edge." We will get to know more soon enough, as we head towards the release date, set somewhere in August.

Just when it was almost confirmed that there will be no flat screen versions of the Note 7 this year, but only a single device that will sport a dual Edge display, new photos have surfaced that suggest otherwise. The photos show the device to have a flat back as well, unlike the Galaxy S7 regular, which has a curved back. We can also see the USB Type-C port, connected to a USB Type-C cable. If you look carefully, you can actually see the iris scanner too.

If you like the flat version seen in these pics and would like to buy one, we have bad news for you unfortunately. In all probability, the Note 7 will only sport a dual Edge display this year. While these images prove that the flat screen version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 does exist, it will possibly not be marketed to the public. In fact, this is actually a prototype and will remain only at that stage for now. The curved Note 7 however, is going to be unveiled on August 2, equipped with a Snapdragon 820 SoC, 4GB/6GB of RAM and the same camera setup (12-megapixel/5-megapixel) as the S7 series.

The Galaxy S8 and S8+ showcase an arguable design choice when it comes to the location of the fingerprint scanner. If you are a lefty, reaching it will be tough on a regular basis and even if you are a righty, you may end up smudging the camera lens much more than you may like to. However, as it turns out, the facial recognition feature is blazing fast in unlocking the phone on both the devices. While this does make up somewhat for the oddly positioned fingerprint scanner, the feature isn't as secure as we would have liked it to be.

The lack of security in using the facial recognition system was made apparent by a Twitter video uploaded by MARCIANOTECH (@MARCIANOPHONE). It seems that the Galaxy S8 smartphones are not impossible to unlock even when the face is different and that's not good news for a feature that Samsung has been advertising as one of the main attractions for the Galaxy S8. It is possible that Samsung will be able to fix it by the time the handsets are ready to be shipped to their customers, or maybe they can just release a software update later to take care of it. We will have to wait and see what happens.

Although the Galaxy S8 and S8+ have not been released to the public yet, they are apparently receiving their first OTA updates. The updates contain the Android security patch for the month, but more interestingly, has the "fix" which takes away the ability to remap the Bixby hardware button from both devices. It wasn't easy to begin with as you had to install a third party app to get it done, but post the update, it just won't be possible anymore unless you decide to root your brand new device. The build numbe on the two updates are G950FXXU1AQDD (S8) and G955FXXU1AQDD (S8+) .

As of now, the update is only hitting the review units and pre-release handsets probably, since the two smartphones are not yet available for purchase anywhere. However, what this does mean is that if you do decide to buy any of the two handsets or if you have pre-ordered any one of them, the April security patch will be waiting for you, along with the Bixby Button reprogramming limitation patch as soon as you switch on your phone for the first time. Get that Wi-Fi ready and start getting to know Bixby I guess!

Samsung only managed to secure a meagre 13% of the global smartphone market's total operating profit, while Apple managed to scoop up 83.4% in Q1 2017! In spite of Samsung outselling Apple globally by millions of handsets in the quarter, they only managed to show an operating profit of $1.57 billion, while Apple posted a figure of $10.1 billion for the same. Samsung experienced a 21.9% decline while Apple saw a 79.8% increase in their respective operating profits.

If you are wondering how it's possible, well, the answer is quite simple really; higher profit margins. Apple enjoys insane profit margins in the range of 30.7%; something that can only be pulled off by Apple because of its brand name. No other company, including Samsung can afford to sell their smartphones with a profit margin that high because no one would buy them. Apple on the other hand knows that people will continue to buy them, irrespective of the price. Samsung is having trouble holding onto even a 9.7% average profit margin due to steep competition from Chinese manufacturers in the low-mid end segment.

@OnLeaks and 91Moiiles have collaborated in bringing this Galaxy Note 8 leak to you, which looks significantly different from what one would expect the Galaxy Note 8 to look like when it's actually launched in August. In fact, these renders are even quite different from what the previous leaks had shown us as well. Whether or not that's good news, it is for you to decide. While there's no confirmation that these leaks are authentic, OnLeaks and 91Mobiles are without a doubt, pretty reliable leaksters.

If you have not yet figured out what I am rambling about, then let me point it out to you; it's the top bezel. The design of the render shows the Galaxy Note 8 to sport a significantly bigger bezel on top than the Galaxy Note 8. It sounds almost unbelievable that Samsung would move away from the S8's bezel-less design which earned them so much praise this year. In fact, it suspiciously resembles the Galaxy Note 7 in many ways. Other design elements are more or less what's to be expected. There's the dual camera, with an awkwardly placed fingerprint scanner right beside the camera module, the 3.5mm headphone jack, the USB Type-C port, the mono speaker outlet, the front camera, the iris scanner, the heart rate sensor and the other usual stuff.

Samsung has so far managed to stay away from the notch by
sticking to its tried and tested low-bezel displays but they might actually
introduce the infamous notch after all, albeit in a completely different way.
Instead of opting for the hated notch on top to accommodate the sensors, mic
and cameras, Samsung's future flagship smartphone in 2019 may just sport a
side-notch on the Edge display! Cool as the idea may sound, the practicality of
it doesn't make too much sense now, but the patent has indeed been filed by
Samsung under the name, "Electronic
Device Including Bended Display and Image Displaying Method Therethrough."

This could help Samsung eliminate the bezels altogether but
even then, the design doesn't seem to be too practical at the moment. May be
the patent will be discarded or maybe they will find a better way to implement
the technology, but there's no denying that the Vivo Nex is a live example of the fact that a better alternative to
the notch does indeed exist for truly bezel-less smartphones.

Not unlike
the fabled Galaxy X and its foldable display, the in-screen fingerprint scanner
never really arrived on any Samsung device, in spite of there being no shortage
of rumors that hinted Samsung will incorporate it in the Galaxy S8 or the Note
8. As it turns out, even the upcoming Galaxy S9 will most likely go with a
traditional fingerprint scanner at the back, albeit in a better place! However,
the focus of this news is the fact that it's a Chinese company named Vivo that
has beaten the mighty Korean giant and the all-powerful Apple in getting
Synaptics' inside-the-display fingerprint scanner inside one of its
smartphones.

Vivo is no
joke though, because the company is one of the leading smartphone companies in
its home country and in India. Unfortunately, this also means that the western
world might not see this smartphone ever make its way onto the US shores. In
the words of the source, which is Patrick
Moorhead aka @PatrickMoorhead on
Twitter,

"Here are some pics @anshelsag and I took of
the Vivo smartphone with the Synaptics in-display fingerprint reader. The CMOS
image sensor is .7mm thick and reads the fingerprint right through the OLED
display. The experience was faster than I expected."

The US Patent and Trademark Office have recently released information that indicates wireless charging might be on queue for the Apple iPhone 8. However, considering the fact that the patent was filed in towards the end of last year, it is a bit surprising that it did not make its way to the iPhone 7 this year like many had hoped it would.

If the wireless charging had made its way to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus as expected, Apple would not be receiving so much hate for disabling the ability to listen to your headphones while putting your phone on charge. Theoretically, you can still do that with the help of the "AirPods" introduced by Apple or just a dock, as suggested by Phil Schiler. However, shelling out an additional $159 for the AirPods after spending a premium amount to buy the smartphone itself may not appeal to everyone to be honest.

Let us hope that we see more innovation from Apple in 2017 as this year will mark the tenth anniversary of the iPhone. Also, it makes one ask the question; did Apple purposefully leave the wireless charging out of the equation to introduce it to the "ifans" on the iconic smartphone's 10th birthday? If so, we are not impressed.

As Gene Munster from Piper Jaffray pointed out on CNBC yesterday, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus couldn't have chosen a better time to come out unless Apple had some sort of premonition about the impending disaster that has now befallen their biggest competitor in the market. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was a beautiful flagship device that was set to conquer markets around the world once again, but then its batteries started exploding! At this point of time, authorities, experts and most importantly, Samsung itself has officially requested everyone who owns a Note 7, to shut down their device and go to the nearest service centre for a replacement. The entire 2.5 million smartphones which were sent to the customers are going to be replaced or refunded by Samsung, which alone would cost them more than a billion dollars. The damage will be much bigger than a billion dollars in the long run though, because of the bad reputation that this incident is sure to brand Samsung with.

The iPhone 7 on the other hand, was not received well by fans and critics alike (barring a few hardcore fans of course). The new handset is being criticized for not bringing any real innovation to the series and also for excluding the well loved 3.5mm jack, while bringing in a somewhat strange-looking AirPod to the market at a premium cost. Nevertheless, there have been no reports of the iPhone 7's batteries exploding and settingthings on fire, so it's pretty much obvious that Apple is bound to see a significant sales boost, now that their biggest competitor is somewhat out of the equation for a small while. Some experts have predicted that Apple may very well have suffered an even lower sales number this year, had their competitor's smartphones not started catching fire right before the latest iPhones went on sale.

There's no getting around it; the iPhone 7 has scored 178,397 points in the AnTuTu Benchmark test and that's significantly more than the 140,288 points which the current topper, the OnePlus 3 scores on an average. There is no doubt that this score is extremely impressive and beats all the Android competition hands down. The Apple A10 chip is indeed a beast as it turns out. However, there is a small detail that most people seem to be overlooking in this particular case.

The iPhone 7 will probably have a screen resolution of 750 × 1334 pixels, stretched out on a 4.7-inch display with a ppi of 326. This means that the A10 chip had to push a lot less pixels while going through the AnTuTu benchmark than ANY of the other Android phones on the top ten list. The minimum resolution that is considered standard for a flagship device these days is 1080 × 1920 pixels, with some major manufacturers like Samsung opting for 1440p QHD AMOLED panels since last year. While it is a completely different issue that a flagship smartphone with a very premium price tag sports only a 750 × 1334 resolution, things will make a bit more sense when we see the iPhone 7 Plus' (1080p expected) score on AnTuTu when it comes out, or maybe even sooner.

The most popular social network website, Facebook, has changed its Logo... A minor change to the logo's font, However, you will still see the iconic "F" logo that one doesn't change but wherever else the full name is used, you will eventually see a new wordmark designed in collaboration by Facebook's in-house design team and Eric Olson of Process Type Foundry.

Facebook's New logo used a font which is more simple, here's what the facebook team said about this new logo:

When Facebook's logo was first created in 2005, the company was just getting started and we wanted the logo to feel grown up and to be taken seriously. Now that we are established, we set out to modernize the logo to make it feel more friendly and approachable. While we explored many directions, ultimately we decided that we only needed an update, and not a full redesign. We worked with Eric Olson - whose typeface Klavika was used in the original logo - and developed a custom typeface to reflect where we are now and where we are headed.- Josh Higgins, Facebook Creative Director

Chainfire is back and this time brings the number of rooted Lollipop-running Nexus devices to six CF Auto Root is available with SuperSU v2.20.

For Lollipop devices the latest Chainfire version includes a ZIP to patch the kernel to run CF Auto Root at boot. Here's the list of supported devices:

Nexus 4

Nexus 5

Nexus 10

Nexus 7 (2012)

Nexus 7 (2013)

Nexus 9

This only leaves the Nexus 6 without root, but considering the speed with which Chainfire expands the list it probably won't be a long wait. That said, the Google+ post mentions hardware issues, which may slow down the progress.

Lenovo has just unleashed a brand new series, which will replace the Moto X series of smartphones, starting from 2016. Both the phones in the new Z-series will come with top tier specs like a SD 820 CPU, a 5.5-inch QHD panel, 4GB of RAM and even the choice for 32GB/64GB in-built storage (along with expandable SD card slots). The regular Moto Z will sport a 13-megapixel rear sensor with laser autofocus, optical image stabilization and a dual tone LED flash for pitch dark conditions. On the front, there's the 5-megapixel snapper with a dedicated selfie-flash and a wide angle lens for group selfies. All this will be powered by the Quick charging 2,600mAh battery inside the Z.

The Moto Z Force has the bigger 3,500mAh battery and a shatterproof glass on the front. Lenovo calls the glass "ShatterShield" and they are confident that it cannot be broken by even the roughest of falls. The thicker and more premium device also features a higher resolution 21-megapixel sensor with phase detection laser autofocus, optical image stabilization and an aperture of f/1.8 for low-light photography. In spite of the flagship specs, what we did not like is the missing headphone jack that we have grown accustomed to. Although an USB Type-C to headphone adapter is included in the box, it means that you cannot simultaneously use the Type-C port for charging or data syncing, while listening to the headphones.

In addition to the missing 3.5mm jack, the two Moto phones also bring something else that the market is just getting accustomed to. Both phones have 16 magnetic dots at the lower-back area and they are equipped to connect with the "Moto Mods." Similar to what we saw with the LG G5 modular phone that was released earlier this year, the Moto Mods are modular accessories created specifically for the Moto Z smartphones to enhance the device's already impressive capabilities. There's the InstaShare Projector mod and some stylish case mods, but we found the JBL Soundboost mod to be the most impressive with its twin 3W speakers and a 1,000 mAh battery to boost the phone's usage time.

As is evident, the Moto Z and the Moto Z Force has a LOT to offer, but you will have to wait till September to get your hands on one, if you are outside the US. Verizon in the US however, will release their "Droid Editions" sooner.

The Galaxy J7 (2016) just started to receive the Android security patch for the month of April in India. The OTA package is quite slim at only 25.78MB and has the build number MMB29K.J710FXXU3AQD4. Along with the 49 CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) fixes included in all Android SMR releases for the month of April, Samsung also includes 16 of its own fixes that are unique to the manufacturer's smartphones only. If you own a J7 (2016) in India, you should be prompted for the update anytime now.

The S7 and the S7 Edge has also started to receive the same Android SMR update but this report is apparently coming in from Europe instead of Asia. The OTA update includes the same fixes from Google and Samsung as the ones mentioned above. It might be a while though before you get to see the update pop up on your phone. How much you will need to wait will depend largely on your location.

Head over to our firmware section to find all the latest available updates for your Samsung smartphones.

If you live
in India and own one of Samsung's Galaxy J5 (2016) smartphones, we have good
news for you because reports from all over have confirmed that the handset is
indeed getting an OS upgrade to Nougat 7.1.1, a version of the Android OS which
is more recent than even the one on the Galaxy S8 (Unless of course, you
running the Beta builds of Android 8.0 Oreo on your S8).

Now that you
know the good news, time to give you the bad news! According to SamMobile and their sources, some users
are experiencing an issue after installing the update. Apparently, the phone
keeps crashing on various screens. If it turns out to be true in most cases,
then Samsung will either have to release a patch very soon or stop with the
roll outs in the region completely. Let's just hope that doesn't happen because
it would mean another very long and unexpected wait for Galaxy J5 (2016) owners
to get the already late update.

Head over to
our firmware section to
find all the latest available updates for your Samsung smartphones and tablets.